When
selling a house, most homeowners hope for a quick and profitable transaction
that puts them in a position to make a great move. If you’re waiting for the
best time to win as a seller, the market is calling your name this spring. Here
are five reasons why this is the perfect time to sell your house if you’re
ready.
Buyer demand is strong right now, and buyers are active in
the market. Buyer showings are up 51.5% compared to this time last year. As
anticipated, demand for real estate remains elevated and continues to be
affected by low levels of inventory. On average, each home is getting 50
percent or more requests this year compared to January of last year.
Purchaser demand is so high,
the market is running out of available houses for sale. Nationally,
the inventory of homes for sale in February decreased by 48.6% over the
past year, a higher rate of decline compared to the 42.6% drop in January. This
amounted to 496,000 fewer homes for sale compared to February of last year.
It’s this imbalance between
high buyer demand and a low supply of houses for sale that gives sellers such
an advantage. A
seller will always negotiate the best deal when demand is high, and supply is low. That’s exactly what’s happening in the
real estate market today.
Clearly, many more people are
interested in buying in stead of selling this spring, creating the ultimate sellers’ market. When this happens,
homeowners in a position to sell have the upper hand in negotiations.
As of the third quarter of
2020, the average homeowner gained $17,000 in
equity over the
past year, and that number continues to grow as home values appreciate. Equity is a type of forced savings that grows
during your time as a homeowner and can be put toward bigger goals like buying
your next dream home. As homeowners gain equity in their
homes, they are more likely to consider using that equity to purchase a
larger or more attractive home – the wealth effect of rising equity.
In today’s housing market, fast rising demand against the limited supply of homes for sale has resulted in continued house price appreciation.
So much has changed over the
past year, including what many of us need in a home. Spending extra time where
we currently live is enabling many of us to re-evaluate homeownership and what
we find most important in a home.